The Sentry Tournament of Champions: First Round
Kapalua, Hawaii - The PGA Tour season resumes with the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The first event of 2022 comes after a six week break on the schedule for the holidays and some silly season activities. PGA Tour event winners from the 2021 calendar year along with 2020 Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele will tee-it-up at Kapalua (in Maui) today.
The field includes reigning FedExCup Champion Patrick Cantlay (making season debut), World Nos. 1 and 2 Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa, and current FedEx Cup points leader Talor Gooch. In addition, 2021 PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson will make his first start in the Sentry Tournament of Champions since 2001 (T28). All four major champions are represented this week.
Watch the Birdie: The par-5 fifth hole at Kapalua was the easiest hole on the PGA Tour last season relative to par, with an average score of 4.095 (-0.905) and had the lowest average score relative to par of any hole on TOUR since the 2005 FUNAI Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Ten players in the Sentry field are making their Tournament of Champions debut.
The Basics:
With the limited field and the time zone adjustment to Hawaii, the Sentry Tee Times start today at 9:40am (local)/2:40pm (ET) and going to 12:45pm (local)/5:45pm (ET).
Cameron Champ withdrew from the Sentry after testing positive for COVID-19, the Tour announced Tuesday.
Weather: Today’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies. Temperature 74-degrees, but humidity 75% with winds 13 mph NE. (link)
PGATourBrunch will post at Noon (ET) Friday.
Next Week: SONY Open in Hawaii - The Tour stays in Hawaii (link)
*Feel free to forward this edition of PGA Tour Brunch to your friends and/or family who love pro golf. Through January 15th, we’re offering a New Year’s Discount.
Sentry Tournament of Champions
COURSE: Plantation Course at Kapalua - (Maui, Hawaii)
ARCHITECTS: Bill Coore / Ben Crenshaw
YARDS/PAR: 7,596 yards/Par 73
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,200,000/$1,476,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Harris English
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points / to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @Sentry_TOC
OFFICIAL SITE: (Sentry TofC)
TV COVERAGE: This evening, January 6, and Friday, January 7: TV coverage goes from 6:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel.
On Saturday, January 8, Round 3 coverage 6:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. On Sunday, January 9: NBC opens final round coverage 4:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) and Golf Channel wraps it up from 6:00pm to 8:00pm (ET)
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING on ESPN+: Streaming coverage will now be featured on ESPN-Plus, starting today at 3:15pm (ET) and continuing at 6:00pm (ET) with Featured Hole and Featured Groups. On Saturday, ESPN+ will stream coverage at 3:15am and 6:00pm (ET). On Sunday, ESPN+ coverage is online at 1:30pm ET and 4:00pm ET.
Here’s the Scoop: (From official news release) – ESPN+ and PGA TOUR provided details for the inaugural season of PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+, with extended and expanded coverage that more than triples the total coverage – adding more than 3,200 new hours of live streaming available for a total of more than 4,300 exclusive hours. All PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ coverage will be available to ESPN+’s more than 17.1 million subscribers.
In 2022, PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ will include live coverage of 35 tournaments – from the Tour’s Hawaii events this month - all the way through the FedExCup Playoffs and into the Fall – with at least 28 events having four full days of coverage and four simultaneous live feeds each day.
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of the The Sentry with broadcasts from 4:00pm to 10:00pm (ET) today and Friday. Weekend coverage on Sirius XM Radio runs from 5:00pm to 10:00pm and from 3:00pm to 8:00pm (ET) on Sunday. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATour(dot)com.
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
Tournament of Champions - Field, Tee Times, Leaderboard
The Field - (link) - Short field for PGA Tour and Tokyo Olympic champs
Tee Times: (link)
Link to Leaderboard (link)
Odds for Sentry Tournament of Champions
Jon Rahm 17-2
Justin Thomas 17-2
Collin Morikawa 10-1
Viktor Hovland 12-1
Bryson DeChambeau 12-1
Xander Schauffele 14-1
Patrick Cantlay 16-1
Sam Burns 16-1
Daniel Berger 22-1
Brooks Koepka 22-1
Jordan Spieth 22-1
Sungjae Im 22-1
Cameron Smith 22-1
Hideki Matsuyama 22-1
Abraham Ancer 25-1
Tony Finau 25-1
Patrick Reed 25-1
Harris English 33-1
Jason Kokrak 35-1
Marc Leishman 35-1
Talor Gooch 35-1
Billy Horschel 55-1
Kevin Na 60-1
Si-Woo Kim 66-1
Seamus Power 66-1
Max Homa 66-1
Lucas Herbert 80-1
Erik Van Rooyen 80-1
Kevin Kisner 100-1
Joel Dahmen 100-1
Garrick Higgo 100-1
Cameron Davis 100-1
Branden Grace 100-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 125-1
Matt Jones 125-1
Phil Mickelson 125-1
Lucas Glover 150-1
Stewart Cink 150-1
What They’re Saying:
Champ Tests COVID+ - Out of Sentry Tournament of Champions (ESPNcom)
Primer on 2022 (PGATourCom)
Five Things to Know About The Plantation Course at Kapalua (PGATourCom)
How to Watch This Week and ESPN+ Update (PGATourCom)
Golf Industry News:
Hovland Re-United with Golf Clubs (ESPNcom)
Taylor Made Releases Tiger’s Stealth Line of Clubs (PGATourCom)
Ancer Signed with Callaway (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History:
January 6, 1950 - Eleven months after nearly being killed in a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus, Ben Hogan returned to tournament golf when he teed-off at the Los Angeles Open. The Los Angeles Times reported that 9,000 fans were in the gallery to watch Hogan shoot a two-over par 73 in R-1. After 72 holes, Hogan lost in a playoff to Sam Snead. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE